Ultimate Step By Step Guide To F&B Control In Restaurants

If somebody asks you about the key factors for a successful restaurant, possibly it could be good food, outstanding service, and an excellent location. Yes, these are indeed the factors that contribute to the topline numbers. However, some of the restaurants operate on very tight margins. For instance, the margin of average quick-service restaurants (QSR) in the UAE falls in the range of 5% to 12%. So, the sale from a restaurant must be adequate to cover all the associated expenses and still generate a decent profit.

Food and Beverage (F&B) cost is one of the most significant cost components for any restaurant, and it ranges between 20% to 35% of the revenue depending on the restaurant-style. It means that even the slightest error in food servings can result in a severe dip in the margins. On the other hand, you can increase your margins by controlling your F&B costs, and that is where F&B control comes into play.

Standardize Food And Drink Recipes

To ensure consistency, you must establish a standard for each food and drink recipe. All the staff members must follow the same recipe while preparing the items on the menu; otherwise, you won’t have any control over the quality of food or drink served in your restaurant.

The kitchen staff should know the exact amount of ingredients that go into the preparation of each food item, including the number of servings. You should ensure that the entire kitchen staff has access to these recipes. In case you have more than one restaurant, standardization helps maintain consistency across outlets. 

Monitor Profitability Of Recipes

You should maintain a database for the food items on the menu along with their recipes. You should then calculate the cost of each food item, including the cost of raw material, delivery, and spoilage. It helps you formulate a menu price that results in a healthy profit margin.

Now that you know the cost and profitability of each item that comes out of the kitchen, you should review the menu at least once a month. Remove those items that are either not selling well or not generating enough profit. Add those items to the menu that are trending or are more cost-effective to prepare.

Supervise And Control Inventory

One of the best tools for F&B control is inventory management. You need to know about the products that are stocked in the warehouse along with their exact quantities because every money tied up in the inventory adversely impacts your profit margins. To manage F&B costs, you should consider product cost and shelf life as it would help in avoiding both overstocking and understocking.

Perform weekly inventory checks to ensure that there are no discrepancies or irregularities in the count. You can also use good inventory management software to make the process less complicated and more efficient. It will help keep track of the available stock and make data-driven decisions.

Hire Reliable Staff

You should have a strong and reliable restaurant team to help you run the restaurant’s daily operations efficiently. Your staff has access to the food items at all times, which can be tempting to some of them and may result in internal theft. For instance, a Dubai-based restaurant surprisingly found five staff members pocketing money from the cash register worth Dh 108,000 besides regularly stealing food items. Internal thefts and pilferages are nothing new for the restaurant industry, which means you have to be careful as a restaurateur.

Employ Smart Technology

Another way to increase efficiency and improve cost management is the use of innovative technology as a reliable POS system. With the help of the technology, you will be able to keep track of daily sales, manage inventory, monitor employee productivity, and many more. Other significant advantages of using such software include access to a large volume of data & detailed reports, and lower human intervention leading to fewer errors.

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